DR IAN DUNCAN, European officer for the Scottish Parliament, has advised MSPs not to push for an import ban on mackerel from Iceland and the Faroe Islands as a way of resolving conflict over catch quotas.

Members of Holyrood's European and External Relations Committee were told that using punitive measures could hit fish processors in the UK, where much of the produce is sent,

Dr Duncan said: "The difficulty, and the reason why there is no ban on imports, is because the support is not as widespread as you would imagine.

"The UK itself has been less than excited by the prospect because the principle mackerel processing is here.

"A lot of jobs, both in the north-east of Scotland, Shetland and down in the north of England, depend on it."

He said the issue is complicated, adding: "Something must be done, there is no question about that. But it might be worthwhile us asking the question, 'what now are both the Scottish and UK governments intending to do to establish a more balanced and sustainable fishery', as a first step."

The fishing dispute centres on the amount of mackerel being fished by European Union (EU) countries Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

Iceland and the Faroes set their own inflated quotas in recent years, arguing that larger numbers of fish moved into their territorial waters.

A vote in the European Parliament in September last year progressed plans to make sanction measures available to the EU.